Yankees tell J.C. Escarra he has made the team with fun hidden camera video
Two years ago, J.C. Escarra was working multiple jobs – from driving rideshares to substitute teaching to food delivery – while also plying his chosen trade in Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the independent leagues as he tried to keep his baseball dreams alive.
On Thursday, that dream will come true, as he will be introduced prior to the Yankees’ season opener as a Major Leaguer.
The Yankees made it official via one of those now-popular ‘hidden camera’ videos that Escarra has made the team, and will be heading north with the squad.
Escarra, 29, was drafted by the Orioles as a first baseman in 2017 and got to Triple-A, but was released in April 2022 and almost gave up baseball; instead, he went back to catching, which he had done in college at Florida International, and signed with Kansas City of the independent American Association, where he hit .291 with 12 homers in 70 games.
A winter ball season in Puerto Rico and time in the Mexican League and independent Atlantic League in 2023 led to the Yankees offering him a minor-league deal prior to last season, and when he started the year at Double-A Somerset, it looked like he might just be organizational depth behind two more visible prospects in Ben Rice and Agustin Ramirez.
But, as they say, the rest is history.
Rice started playing more first base and making his way to the Bigs, Ramirez went to the Marlins in the Jazz Chisholm deal at the trade deadline, and Escarra ended up slashing 261/.355/.434 with 12 homers and 61 RBI in 125 games between Double-A and Triple-A, including a .304 mark with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
He then won the batting title in the Dominican Winter League by hitting .363 in 35 games, and he came to Tampa with a 40-man roster spot and a chance at finally realizing his dream.
Mission accomplished.
